Patience pays off for Green

When Purdue men's basketball coach Matt Painter announced his first recruiting class, the so-called experts all sang the praises of Korey Spates, Nate Minnoy, Chris Lutz and Tarrance Crump. It seemed as though Marcus Green was an after-thought as the fifth member of the class. Crump was a flashy junior college transfer. Spates, Minnoy, Lutz and Green would be a building block for a new era at Purdue, merging together as a force for four seasons. Except ... the troubled Spates never lasted that first season. Minnoy suffered a season-ending injury his freshman year, and eventually transferred. Lutz lasted two seasons before transferring. Green is the lone survivor of the high school players recruited to be in Painter's first class. The junior from Chicago has also had to battle adversity, but he's handled it quietly and diligently. Purdue will be counting on more from Green today when the Boilermakers travel to play Iowa, which is fresh off an upset of No. 6 Michigan State. Saturday against Ohio State, Green showed that perseverance can pay off. Stung by 2-of-18 shooting from 3-point range in Purdue's first 13 games of the season, Green heated up to torch Ohio State for 22 points, and power the Boilermakers to a key victory against the Buckeyes. A 6-foot-4 junior from Chicago, Green now averages 4.9 points a game. "You have to give him credit for that," Painter said of Green hanging in there for the Boilermakers. "A lot of times, when things don't work out for individuals, they want to run from it. He hasn't done that. He has stayed and he has battled. He's had some tough days. I'm just happy for him to have this day, because he deserves it. He's persevered. "He's done a good job of just hanging in there. That's what you have to do, and you have to do that in life -- just hang in there and keep fighting and keeping a good attitude and things will work out for you." Green said that he never thought about leaving Purdue like some of his contemporaries. "I have toughness and perseverance," Green said. "When I commit myself to something, I always see it through, no matter how bad the situation gets. I find a way to get through it. "Running away from a problem never helps. I always try to be mature with problems. I feel for some of the guys who came here with me, and I hope they have good careers elsewhere, but I never thought about leaving here. It's a great institution, and I love the basketball program." Green said that he always tries to stay positive, because negative thoughts affect performance and team chemistry. Now that Green has two strong performances back-to-back (Michigan State and Ohio State), Painter is hoping for more. "This is going to be great for his confidence," Painter said. "Now, he's had back-to-back games of shooting the ball well. When we were recruiting him, that's what he did well. He shot the basketball. That just gives us another weapon if he can consistently do that." Green said that he will try to be focused on his role with the team. "I take what's there," Green said. "You don't force anything and you don't hunt your shot. You just play team ball. You just play within the system. (Against Ohio State), it just happened to be my night. On our team, it can be anybody's night. We have a lot of people who can do this." According to Green, he's willing to do what it takes to help Purdue, whether it's start or come off the bench, be a forward or be a guard. "I've been dealing with that my whole career," Green said. "In high school, I played multiple positions and had to come in here, come in there. I'm the type of guy who's going to do whatever it takes to win. If it takes me to rebound, I'm going to rebound. If it takes me to score, I'm going to score. If it's defending, then I'm defending. Against Ohio State, I just had the hot hand, and my teammates did a great job of getting me the ball."